Unity in faith, focus and protests driving Philadelphia Eagles' early rise in 2017

Inside the Eagles, a family atmosphere has taken shape under second-year coach Doug Pederson

There aren't many successful NFL teams that, upon some locker-room prodding, wouldn't classify themselves as anything other than a family.

Franchises are largely steered, at least with their dollars, by one all-important position, but even amid an era influenced by free agency and rash with annual roster turnover, where else is the fraternal spirit so vigorously valued?

And yet, in Philadelphia, just 22 months after the city's own team replaced its head coach for the second time in four seasons, inviting upheaval and additional impatience from a fan base starved for title success, the word "family" rings louder than usual.

A family affair

It started in the offseason.

At the helm of the staff entering the spring was Doug Pederson, a man who, before succeeding Chip Kelly in the shadow of ex-Eagles icon Andy Reid, had last been a head coach at Calvary Baptist Academy, a private 800-student K-12 school. Still, who came running to play for Pederson's bunch, a sub-.500 club in 2016, when the new league year kicked off? Only Alshon Jeffery, a former Pro Bowler and the consensus top wideout on the market; and LeGarrette Blount, the NFL's top rushing scorer on those title-winning Patriots.

Blount, left, is but one of several high-profile veterans fitting in with Philadelphia.
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In any other year, Jeffery and Blount, not to mention fellow Super Bowl champ Chris Long, may have been shrugged off as short-term gambles -- or, to use de facto Eagles general manager Howie Roseman's own term, "Band-Aids." But early in 2017, the new faces, joined by former Baltimore Ravens Tim Jernigan and Torrey Smith, look, act and talk a whole lot more like Eagles than mere poster men for a second rendition of Roseman's infamous "Dream Team" of the late Reid era.

Jeffery already considers Carson Wentz, a quarterback the Eagles will tell you is the surest face of the franchise they've had since Donovan McNabb, a "little brother" and is bent on helping the second-year passer reach MVP heights. Never one to hide his opinions over the course of a career in and out of other organizations, Blount has been adamant in his support of Pederson even after getting zero carries in a game. And Jernigan has ingratiated himself as an early pillar of a defense already littered with fan favorites in Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox and Jordan Hicks, touting the opportunity to "rock those wings" in the process.

By all accounts, these guys want to be in Philadelphia. A popular counter to that notion might be that they want to be anywhere the money is. But tell that to Blount, who signed for a guaranteed $400,000 -- less than what even the fourth-string back on his old team, the Pats, is making in 2017. Tell that to Jeffery, who settled for a one-year deal with the intention of proving himself in and re-upping with Philly when, say, Pierre Garcon got $47.5 million in San Francisco.

A divine calling

If Tim Tebow's stint with the Eagles had extended beyond a single preseason under Chip Kelly, the role of faith in Philadelphia's locker room might garner nationwide headlines. But an already-hefty contingent of players grounded in their Christian beliefs -- Wentz chief among them -- has expanded in 2017 to the point that it's virtually become linked to the team's core.

That's not to say any member of that contingent has directly credited the Eagles' success either in the win column or the locker room to the faith they value, nor is it to say Christian beliefs are the only thing motivating a diverse lineup.

Carson Wentz poses in a promotional shot of his "Audience of One" Bible app series.
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But to deny that Wentz, what with his inescapable motto of playing for God, or an "Audience of One," has influenced the Eagles as much with his tantalizing talent in the pocket as his presence on the spiritual playing field would be to overlook perhaps the most common story of Philadelphia's coming together under Pederson.

Even on the surface, the movement of faith has been a whole lot more than a pregame prayer or a post-touchdown point to the heavens. And it's been building since Wentz's arrival, since right after the QB started unleashing his #AO1 slogan as a rookie.

The tales of impromptu locker-room baptisms have been widely shared, as have several players' decision to don Easter-themed shoes for the NFL's My Cleats, My Cause campaign in 2016. Practice huddles have been broken with shouts of "One-two-three, Je-sus!" And before spending some of his off time in the summer delivering guest sermons at church in hometown Bismarck, North Dakota, he hitched a flight with now-former Eagles receiver Jordan Matthews, another speaker in the Bible app series, to paint houses and play with underprivileged kids in Haiti.

"We had some nicer air-conditioned accommodations set up for them, [but] they politely refused and chose to sleep in the dormitory alongside their church group and about 100 other North Americans that came to serve," said Janeil Owen of Mission of Hope, the service organization with which Wentz partnered and has since, through the Audience of One foundation, given $500,000 for construction of a multipurpose sports and Christian leadership training complex in Haiti. "Carson is an incredible dude ... [He] understands the power of play and the pull that has on kids. We want to help develop that skill set but more importantly develop and disciple that young person in their journey."

It's a message that's been translated into the Eagles facility, not only through Wentz but other players who have publicly declared themselves part of Philly's Gospel group -- Foles, Ertz, Burton, Hicks, Maragos, Smith and linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill among them.

Another part of the family.

A stand together

As with any family, adversity is inevitable, and no amount of offseason unity or off-field faith has kept the Eagles from encountering some early in 2017. Roseman and team owner Jeffrey Lurie were all smiles with fans when they dined at a downtown Kansas City barbecue spot the night before the Eagles' Week 2 showdown with Reid's Chiefs, endorsing "E-A-G-L-E-S, Eagles!" chants and muttering "Go Birds" before and after dinner.

But days earlier, Lurie and the organization found themselves in a political dispute of sorts, igniting some charged discourse as they shot down claims that they would not consider signing former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick solely because of his kneeling during pregame national anthems to protest social injustice.

Malcolm Jenkins, center, has drawn support from both teammates and Lurie.
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A week later, after President Donald Trump publicly called for NFL owners to "fire" players who protest for reform by kneeling during anthems, Lurie was prompted to join his players on the sideline for Week 3, literally linking arms with his team in one of many league-wide rebukes of the president's comments. Not everyone may have agreed with the Eagles' stance, even if not a single player took a knee as Kaepernick did in 2016 -- and as former Eagles cornerback Ron Brooks did during the preseason.

But everyone on the Eagles refused to be divided. Unlike dozens of teams who united in support of players' right to protest, though, their actions also followed weeks of additional standing together off the gridiron.

In other words, the Eagles were acting together long before they assembled with linked arms and long before NFL headlines were littered more with reports of Trump's feud with football than, say, the team's rise to the top of the NFC East.

Maybe all of it equates to additional wins on the field, because, you know, that's what all of this comes down to. Maybe it doesn't. That's a question for another day -- or, more specifically, playoff time, which becomes more likely with wins like their 26-24 victory in Los Angeles in Week 4.

But if there's one thing, right now, you can't say the Eagles are not? It's a family.

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